A Tribute to Congressman John Lewis, a brother with a legacy

     The Scripture says: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mat. 5:48). This is a passage that inspires and guides the meaning of holy living in the teaching of Jesus. Those who are called to follow Jesus are certainly called to a life of holiness. However, in the Christian Church we have turned holiness into something so unattainable that it is as if God really does not want us to live in holiness. For some believers, it is as if this is what God desires but it is not something that can be achieved in life.
     Certainly, we cannot achieve perfection in this life, but according to Jesus, we can certainly live a holy life. How, you may ask? Well, I am glad you ask. When we explore Jesus’ words in Matthew we get the first clue as to what it means to live a sanctified, holy life. In chapter 5 of Matthew Jesus tells us that to be like God, the Father, we must love like God loves. So Jesus describes for his audience how it is that God loves:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ [This must sound very familiar because it is what we hear all the time in our culture] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [Here we start to break with the values of the dominant culture] so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. [God treats the righteous and the unrighteous people in this world with the same care, mercy, justice, and compassion] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? [Jesus uses the worst sinners in Jewish religious culture to illustrate that if we treat our friends well we are not better than the tax collectors and gentiles. We have a higher calling] (43-47).

     This call of Jesus reminded me of the story of a Congressman who, although not perfect, sought to live a life of holiness. Congressman John Lewis was not only a public servant but he came to serve in public office out of his sense of service to his Lord and to God’s people. Clearly, he is not the only one but he helps us illustrate the point.
     Lewis was an ordained Baptist minister who graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. Later he received a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University. In 1955, Lewis first heard Martin Luther King Jr. (another servant of God) on the radio, and he closely followed King's Montgomery bus boycott later that year. At age 15, Lewis preached his first public sermon. Lewis met Rosa Parks (another woman of faith) when he was 17, and met King for the first time when he was 18.
     While a student, Lewis was invited to Clark Memorial United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN, where the Rev. James Lawson (a United Methodist Minister) and the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith (a Baptist Minister) were teaching about the power of nonviolence resistance, as a strategy that will transform the Civil Rights struggle of the 60’s. There, Lewis and other students, out of their sense of call would utilize nonviolence resistance as a way to demand equality and justice for our black brothers and sisters, and other oppressed communities in the USA. He practiced this method for the rest of his life.
     As a Christian, he advocated for the civil and human rights of all people, especially African Americans. His faith led him to organize sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and took part in many other activities pursuing civil rights for all as part of the Nashville Student Movement. Because of his faith, these sit-ins in Nashville were responsible for the desegregation of lunch counters in downtown Nashville. His actions caused him to be arrested and jailed many times (as Jesus mentioned at the beginning of the sermon it would happen when people followed him – see Matthew 5:3-12).  He was also instrumental in organizing bus boycotts and other nonviolent protests in the fight for voter and racial equality, feats which today we celebrate as part of our heritage as a great country.
     Congressman Lewis activism was motivated by his faith, as the Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, a pastor who worked with Lewis, stated. Congressman Lewis said: “The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.”
    Something he did. He was arrested more than 40 times and spent his life advocating for civil and human rights for all people. He was one of the first Freedom Riders and encouraged others to get into “good trouble” in the pursuit of justice. In 2016, he even staged a sit-in on the House floor in an effort to force a vote on gun control. Rev. Girton-Mitchell said:

“For some making ‘good trouble’ meant walking across the bridge in the face of horrifying opposition. His life inspired me [Girton-Mitchell] to become a bridge to help connect people to fight against racism with my body, mind and soul.”

     Congressman Lewis believed that Christians must be engaged in "good trouble, necessary trouble" to achieve changes in support of oppressed and marginalized communities. His words were inspired by the words of that old negro spiritual: “Wade in the Water.”

Wade in the water, wade in the water children
Wade in the water,
God's gonna trouble the water

     When God troubles the waters are we willing to follow along? Are we willing to engage in the “necessary trouble” that is required for freedom to come, for liberation to be achieved for the sake of our fellow human beings?
     Congressman John Lewis was not a perfect man but he was a man who sought to live a holy life wherever he was. For me he was another member of the great cloud of witnesses who testify to God in the way he sought to live his life. He was there when God was troubling the waters, he was there when love was required to make changes in this country to recognize that Black, Brown, and all people’s lives matter. If Black Lives Matter has made it clear is that all lives matter when Black lives Matter because we are one people loved by God.